Since Ubisoft announced Tom Clancy's XDefiant in mid-2022 and held a closed playtest shortly thereafter, there's been little information shared about the project. While the initial response to the competitive FPS was certainly mixed, the success of Tom Clancy's The Division and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege showed the potential of Ubisoft's online offerings. Ubisoft appears to have pivoted with the project, however, including separating it from the Tom Clancy franchise branding.In an update released by Ubisoft this past week, the first since October 2021, the developer announced plans to begin what it calls XDefiant Insider Sessions. These are, in practice, a series of closed testing sessions allowing Ubisoft to collect feedback regarding the state of the game. Perhaps more importantly, Ubisoft clarifies that going forward the "Tom Clancy's" part of XDefiant's name is being dropped. The game will now be referred to only as XDefiant.For those worried whether this means XDefiant will be completely divorced from the Tom Clancy universe, that's not entirely true. XDefiant itself may not be a Tom Clancy game, but it will still feature Tom Clancy content as it'll be a place where crossover factions meet in battle. While it isn't clear if previously announced content will be retained, XDefiant previously revealed factions from Ubisoft games including Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, and The Division.
To explain why it made this decision, Ubisoft says that plans for XDefiant now include introducing Factions from other games separate from the Tom Clancy universe. No other games, let alone factions, are mentioned, but it's easy to imagine what Ubisoft is talking about. It could cross over with other major Ubisoft franchises like Assassin's Creed, Watch Dogs, Call of Juarez, or even Might and Magic and Rayman. It would allow XDefiant the ability to get very weird, which could help it stand out.
Returning to XDefiant's Insider Sessions, interested Ubisoft fans shouldn't expect to hear much in the way of new information even after the tests start. Ubisoft confirmed that the XDefiant playtests will remain under NDA for the foreseeable future as it continues to collect feedback.
The situation is admittedly strange. While the reception to XDefiant was admittedly not as hype as Ubisoft would have liked, the silence surrounding the project following its announcement is atypical, to say the least. It's unclear if XDefiant looks or plays like what was first announced, as Ubisoft has removed its early marketing material from its official website. Still, if XDefiant is being playtested, perhaps that means a public re-unveiling isn't too far off.
XDefiant is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
